The stupid things tourist do.

I blame Disney. I actually saw one Disney special where a family went out in the boonies and "adopted" coyote cubs for a summer. The kids and the cubs were filmed frolicking in the alpine meadows; the whole thing was just about as unreal as you can get. Anyone who's ever been within 50 feet of a coyote knows that only skunks are more rancid and foul. Not only that, 10 seconds of "frolicking" would leave you with so many fleas you would want to die. Funny how reality is just an afterthought in the entertainment world anymore.

Just last week a woman in Colorado lost her arm by sticking it in a tiger's cage. She was a volunteer at an animal rescue center and was showing some tourists how safe it was to put your arm in the cage......
 
Some three or more decades ago, when I was a young'un visiting the Smokies with my parents and some of their friends, we came upon one of the "Oooo, look, bears!" crowds.

The crowd, including my father and his friends started throwing crab apples down to the bears... which the bears appreciatively ate, until the crab apples ran out. Then the bears wanted more, and started running toward the crowd. People can move fairly fast when they want to.. :)

I've had several Smokies bear experiences. Back in college, while backpacking, I came upon a guy carrying a shredded backpack. About a half mile up the trail, he said, he'd encountered a bear who started running toward him. He dropped his backpack and took off. Bear stopped at the backpack, "opened" it, and removed the food. Bears know where the food is.

I ran into a couple bears, myself, on the Appalachian Trail in the Smokies. One night, while in one of the shelters along the trail, a bear came up and started shaking the chain link wire with which they covered the front of the shelters, and pawing the door. It finally went away.

On another occasion, I was approaching a shelter in the late afternoon, and noticed a bear pawing around a campfire circle in front of the shelter. I wasn't too comfortable just standing there..., so I hung my pack in a tree, and slowly edged up to the shelter (the bear was about 20 feet away), and jumped into the shelter and closed the chain link door. Only then did I think "Oh, great.., I've just trapped myself in a cage, with my backpack hanging in a tree for the bear to play with".

But he finally wandered off.

That night, we'd (myself and several other hikers who'd come in that night) just settled down to sleep when we heard some noises. A flashlight revealed a skunk in the shelter, rooting through some open canned food another hiker had brought into the shelter.., but that's another story :)

I heard, recently, the park service is removing the chain link fronts of those hiking shelters. That ought to make life interesting!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kirk D:
The crowd, including my father and his friends started throwing crab apples down to the bears... which the bears appreciatively ate, until the crab apples ran out. Then the bears wanted more, and started running toward the crowd. People can move fairly fast when they want to.. :)[/quote]

That reminds me of another one, sorry.
First of all every one who has been 18 to 22 and in college may relate to this.
Some guys on spring break (I think) saw a bear while in the Smokey Mountains. Mascot for the frat house! Being intelligent they put a trail of apples leading to the open trunk of the car. The bear ate its way to the trunk and found more apples inside. It climbed in to finish its meal and the lid was slammed shut. After the high fives or whatever you did back then they got in and started for home. The bear decided it wanted to stay and came through the back seat. No one was hurt but I think they had to abandon the car for some time while the bear rearranged the interior.
 
Birthdays are like Grizzer bears!!
"They come up real fast and there aint no gettin away! :)

[This message has been edited by PEA SHOOTER (edited May 24, 2000).]
 
A Conservation Officer friend of my wife's related the following story to me from his service in the Adirondacks. This is very similar to HankB's story.

A family from the city was spending the week at a rental home in the southwestern Adirondacks, near Old Forge. Evening time rolls around and ol' Br'er Bear wanders out of the woods to checkout the trash bags sitting on the back porch of the cabin. The mom grabs the camera and her father grabs a box of cereal and takes his young grandson out into the back yard to feed the bear.

Of course, the bear is very friendly and appreciative of the snacks and eventually comes within about 4 or 5 feet of the old man and his grandkid. Well, the bear seems tame enough, so the dumba$$ grandfather grabs his grandson and attempts to put the boy on the bear's back.

Unfortunately in this case, the boy didn't raise a fuss and was actually almost on the bears back when the bruin attacked. The child survived, but was severely mauled. The grandfather and mother were brought up on child-endangering charges. The bear was hunted down and killed.

When I visit the Adirondacks now, I intentionally blow my horn when I'm driving and see someone trying to feed the deer, or throw food to a bear. It p!$$es people off, but they're not doing the wildlife any favors by feeding them next to the road.

------------------
RKBA!
"The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security"
Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 4 Concealed Carry is illegal in Ohio.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry Website
 
See, my dad was actually SMART about this stuff. Not that he had lots of wilderness experience, but he could at least pick up a book.

When I was around 10 or so, we went on this "dream vacation" to Alaska, dropped off at this remote lake via floatplane. Pop got ahold of an old military bolt-action .30-06 plus a 1911 in .45, which he didn't trust. And a .22LR bolt rifle, mainly for practice but he hauled it along too, I presume now for food gathering in case we were stranded, or maybe signaling purposes. He knew it couldn't stop a bear.

We weren't hunting, mind you, we were fishing.

So one day, we come out of the cabin and find two Grizzly cubs wrasslin' on the front porch :eek:.

Pop hauls everybody back inside pronto, grabs the rifle, cracks the front door and throws two .30-06 rounds into the lake. Then he slams and bolts the door, tells everybody to shut the puck up and stay low, while he quietly reloaded.

And we wait, about half an hour I think.

In any case, it worked great - mama grabbed the cubs and headed for the high hills, never to be seen again. I doubt she ever went near that cabin for the rest of her life, 'specially not with cubs. So not only did we come out OK, pop probably protected the next renters :).

Jim
 
When I was a kid, my family took an extended vacation, camping in a tent, throughout the west. Dad laid down the law to us kids about certain things.

Rule #1 NO FOOD IN THE TENT AT ANY TIME!!!! The scent of food will linger in the canvas (yes, it was that long ago) for a long time. A bear would go through that tent like it wasn't even there so remember rule #1! Late one night, somewhere in the rockies (I can't remember where anymore) a bear came sauntering though the campground. He was trying to get into the bear-proof garbage cans without any success and started looking for easier pickings. We had our food stored in a utility trailer that my dad built. The next morning there were deep gouges in the plywood from the bear's claws as he tried to get at the food. We showed that bear damage to all campers we encountered for years to try to educate people that bears are not to be trifled with! Emphasize rule #1! Do not cook in a soft-top camper/trailer You're just asking for trouble!


------------------
Remember, just because you are not paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you!
 
Y'know, it'd probably be alot easier and make for a shorter list to come up with all the smart things tourists do.

But, that's no fun! ;)
So, here's a couple more.

"Hey, buddy, can you take our picture?"
"Uh, sure pal."
PATTER PaTtEr patter patt.........
"Daddy, why is that nice man running away with your camera?"

Oh, and clearly identifying yourself as a tourist (Two cameras around the neck, map in hand, dumb look on face and pointing at everything) not only make you look like an idiot; it screams "Rob me, I don't know where I am!"

-Kframe
 
Oh, and Kirk said "people can move really fast when they want to"...
Yeah, but bears can move quicker!!!

Glenn, I'd hope that the Game Park would turnaround and sue that family for forcing them into tracking down their own animal and killing it because it attacked a human.
What are carnivores supposed to do when they see something pink, slow, defenseless and chewy?

Sheesh, -Kframe
 
Here's another one:


National Park Service Issues Bear Warning

The Park Service has issued a BEAR WARNING in the national parks for this summer. They’re urging everyone to protect themselves by wearing bells and carrying pepper spray.

Campers should be alert for signs of fresh bear activity, and they should be able to tell the difference between Black Bear dung and Grizzly Bear dung.

Black Bear dung is rather small and round. Sometimes you can see fruit seeds and/or squirrel fur in it.

Grizzly Bear dung has bells in it, and smells like pepper spray.
 
My dad tells the story this way:
When he was in yellowstone in the 60's on a vacation trip there was a guy spreading peanut butter on his arm so the black bear would lick it off.

There is also the legend of the Japanese tourist that wanted his picture taken with a bufalo in yellowstone so he walked up and put his arms arround one. He was gored & trampled to death.

Ever hear about the game hunter that found the people preparing to swim in an African river? He warned them that there were crocodiles in the river. They told him it was OK they were with the Peace Corp.

;)

doc Zox
(who thinks a flying 30 foot predator is just the thing the Earth's human population needs to get that edge back. A back up on the beltway would be a buffet!)
 
Medicine Park Game Refuge near Ft. Sill, OK.

Old, tired, cold, cranky, bull buffalo soaking up the heat off the asphalt road on a fall day.

Second lieutenant drives up in a new MG Midget. Buffalo is blocking road. 2LT honks horn, after all he IS an officer. Bull rises to his feet. Faces car.
2LT honks again. He is in a hurry. Bull jumps onto MG and does the dance of the angry buffalo god. 2LT gets reality check. MG is rendered hors de combat. Troops get many laughs.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dZ:
(who thinks a flying 30 foot predator is just the thing the Earth's human population needs to get that edge back. A back up on the beltway would be a buffet!)[/quote]

Snicker. :)

Seriously, I believe that's the main reason for peoples' stupidity anent wild animals. We've been at the top of the food chain for so long that we're no longer competitive.

Bring back the pteranodon!
 
Best touron questions here so far:

"At what altitude to the Deer turn into Elk?"

"What do you mean I can't ski in August? Your brochure says the ski area has snowmaking!"


db
 
Sort of tourist related...city folk (now friends) move into our small New Hampshire town. First night here, they call the cops to report that the streetlights on their street are not on.

Streetlights? We ain't got no streetlights.

Later, the guy goes to our local PD to 'get a permit to buy a pistol'. He was gently informed that there ain't no such thing, just go buy what you want.

And yes, there are bear and moose around and I give them wide berth. Same with fox, coyote, etc. but they are wicked cool to look at.

Owen
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Oleg Volk:
I went for a hike in the woods today with my 18yo cousin in tow. I wonder if I would have enjoyed the hike more had I not been scanning for other people, snakes, ticks and inclement weather. Guess there's no going back to the unaware condition.[/quote]

You scan for ticks? How do you do that? As far as I know rattle snakes are very very rare here in MN. I have yet to see one.

What I worry about is scaring a skunk when I am out and about at night in the woods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top